Replashm
Bio The planet Replasha is an emerald and azure marble in space, circling a Yellow Giant star named Aiko, king of the gods in Replashm traditional myth. The Replashm people are a warm blooded, reptilian race who grow to stand between a diminutive 4'-5" and the towering 8 feet tall. This size differance runs along racial lines, designated by scale colors, and is a product of the environs each subspecies of Replashm has grown into. Among all, however, the Replashm commonly share a carnivorous diet, deadly fangs and claws, strong tails, and a certain amount of spines or feathers along the back. They can identify a person by their scent, but cannot track someone that way unless a given scent is particularly strong. Normal Replashm eyesight allows them full visual acuity under a full moon. Red: The Red Scaled Replashms, usually known as Salamanders, are born in mountainous, usually volcanic regions. They reach sizes of up to 8 feet tall, and are the strongest physically of the Replashm people, favoring muscular builds. Their bodies generate a higher core temperature than others, and as such tend to feel feverish to others. A rare few can even call up a flammable gas and ignite it with this heat, allowing them to spit torrents of flame. These Replashm are able to withstand temperatures in excess of 300 degrees F, and do not easily dehydrate. However the volcanic regions they in habit have dulled their sense of smell more than other species, and their eyesight is no better than a Human. Their coloration ranges from dark crimson to bright reds, and they often sport a crown of horns along the back of their heads. Despite the harsh region of their birth the Salamanders are the most jovial. Blue: These aerial Replashm sport long, elegant wings that make up their upper arms, though those who have taken up a life time in space may be found without them. The blue scaled Replashms are most commonly called Raptors, since they are winged predators, and tend to come off as emotionally cold and calculating to other races. Though a more proper description would be reserved and deliberate. This sub-species grows between 5 and 6 feet tall, with slender bodies, feathered mains and tails, as well as feathers on their arms and lower legs, with bird like feet and sharp talons. Their sense of smell and taste is almost non-existent, but their sight is owlish in acuteness, and they can feel the slightest change in air currants and pressure. They make excellent pilots. Black: The Black Scales almost entirely hail from a massive area of swamp and wetlands just south of Replasha's equator called the Korakiri Garden, and so these small Replashm have come to be called the Korkiri. Smallest of the species they average four feet in height, and rarely reach higher than 4'11" in most cases. Their black or smokey colors allow them to blend with the rich soil muds and murky waters of the swamps, and they are their bodies sport no horns or feathers, though they do not lack for claws and teeth. Along their backs and tails grow fins which aid them int he water. A long life among the wetlands has given the Korkiri a particular resistance to disease and toxins, and their underwater sight is finely tuned. They are known to be experts in the crafting of poisons and antivenoms. However, they are strangely reclusive, and particularly paranoid about those who are not Replashm, making them the rarest species to find off planet. White: Called the Aklo, in honor of the sun they worship, the white scaled plains people are the most peaceful among their species, and staying among them is to take a slow, easy, and quiet time of yourself, such is their way. The Aklo move as if time doesn't exist and nothing is in a hurry. That's not to say that they cannot move fast, or get things done quickly, just that they prefer to take their time, and do all things at their own pace. White and gold make up most of their colors, and their kind stand between five and a half feet to 7 feet tall at the extreme. They often have two or three horns of gold and ivory. Aklo culture is spiritual, but not religious, and they find fanaticism distasteful. The Aklo sense of smell is highly advanced, taking advantage of the winds on the plains to sniff out hidden predators and dangers. They are also amazing healers, and masters of chemistry specifically as it pertains to medicine. It is not uncommon to see Aklo Replashms traveling the space ways to spread their herbal cures and expand their medical knowledge. Green: Forest dwellers and the most gregarious of their species, the Green Scaled Replashms are mot often called Shento, which means Ambassador in their language. It was the Green Scaled ones who first reached out to other species, and their ability to quickly assess people has proven invaluable to the races trade agreements with others. While the Raptors look to space as a new region of exploration, the Shento see it as a means of meeting new people and growing their culture through assimilation and sharing. This subspecies is the most likely to be a persons first contact with Replashms, as they are the most numerouse off world of any of the other sub species. While all Replashm share a telepathic link to one another, one out of ever 100 Green scale Replashm is gifted with special telepathic empathy. Not mind reading, but the ability to feel others. The Mind Link Other than the special, emotional sensing powers of the Green Scaled Shento the Replashm people do not have any form of mental powers that effect other creatures. As a species, however, all Replashm are born with a special telepathic power that automatically links the entire species together to form a mental network, allowing commmunication between any individual and any other of their species at an distance, a power that greatly aided them in space exploration. This did, however, cause many issues originally, as the Replashm had no means of communication between ships other than their link, which caused other species to take them as hostile. Eventually communication devices were added for the sake of other species. In day to day life this link is almost ignored, it allows a Replashm to sense all others around him, and open conversation at any time, but it does not instantly share all thoughts, nor does a Replashm lose individuality for accessing it normally. This link has, though, created a culture that has a very broad concept of personal possession and all Replashsm intrinsically trust other Replashms because lying to one another is nearly impossible. Crime against one another is virtually nonexistent in their culture, but not so against other species. The Mind Link plays its biggest roll on board Replashm vessels, and the experience is often disturbing the first time to a new visitor. The entire ship is silent as the crew allows their minds to open to one another, letting information and communication flow freely at the speed of thought. Commands are not necessary, as the will of the Captain guides his crew. During an emergency this link can be opened even further, allowing all members of the ship to act as a single organism, feeding all information in real time, processed by every brain, becoming a living swarm of activity, making a Replashm battle force something truly terrifying, as their organization is unparalleled, This is not without it's cost, though. Frequent use of this ability can cause a Replashm to begin losing identity of self, or even to confuse themselves for another, or retaining memories that are not their own. Crewmates who have worked together for a long long time may even find their tastes changing to mirror those they are closest too, and picking up small personality quirks such as speech cadence, or the way someone walks. Technology Most of Replashm technology is generally comparable to that of other species. They are FTL capable, and wield high energy weapons and shields, as well as advanced medical technology. Because of the mind link they all share, Replashm communication technology lags far behind that of other species, and they do not have a reliable FTL communication system cor reaching out to others, though their mind link functions over any distance, and their ships are equipped with standard, close range communications. Replashm vessels are built around a central sphere, with engines jutting out from a boxed section behind, and an elongated nose spearing out the front, usually split down the center. The most impressive technology of these people is their mastery of Solar Physics. Nearly a thousand years ago, the Replashm star began to die, and the species pooled all of their resources into learning as much as possible about their star, until they learned how to stop it's slow collapse, devising a technology that would stabilize it and sustain it. From there they made amazing leaps, until the most amazing discovery of all, the ability to create and control a new sun. It is this technology that gives all Replashm ships their distinctive look, as each ship houses a small star being used as an engine core, surrounded by solar and heat gathering panels to provide electricity to the whole ship. Using powerful magnetic rails lining the split "beaks" of their ships they also harness these suns as weapons, launching rays of solar material to fry enemy ships. The same technology that allowed them to save their star can also be sued in reverse to quelsh one, which is the emergency procedure for when one of these star engines gets too old, or loses containment. However this only works on stars they have created, and cannot be sued to simply snuff a naturally occurring star. On a Replashm ship the working and crew cabins are aligned around the core of engineering, utilizing the star's gravity to maintain gravity int he ship. Special materials and force fields have been made to properly control this gravity, reducing it's force so the presence of such a ship doesn't interfere with the local gravity. This does mean, though, that the Replashms have never developed their own form of artificial gravity. While they can control to some degree an existing field, they cannot artificially generate it.